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@witch gisten strut fitte.

THOMAS L. REED, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE lSLANl), ASSlGNOR TO ATLANTIC TUBINGCGMPANY, 0F PLAGE.

Lettcrs'lmfent No. 64,362,1ated April 530', 1867.

IMPROVED FLEXIBLE TUBING OR HOSE.A

'ro ALL WH'OM 1T MAY ooNoERN:

Be it Aknown that l, THOMAS L. REED, of t-he city and county ot' Providence, and State'of Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful improvement in Flexible Tubing or Hose, such as is used for the conveyance of illuminating-gas; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description of the same, refer-V ence being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents a piece of my improved tubing, from a' portion of which the several layers or courses of the material are removed to exhibit the construction of the same.

My said invention consists in combining a non-eellapsuble tube of braided cot-ton, orsimilar materialrwith an India-rubber sheath or tube by means of a chemical composition of such a nature that the two tubes will be completely united as one tube, and so that the India rubber will be protected from the dissolving action ot' the deposits of the gas in its passage through it, and the tubing 'be rendered gas-tight in consequence..

The non-c'ollapsable tube above mentioned consists of a spiral-wire coil, A, such as is usually employed in flexible tubing, and a single layer or sheath of cotton, C, braided thereon by means of a braiding machine in the 'manner ordinarily practised and well known, the-.wire coil forming afeundation or framework, which shapes the tube, and prevents it from collapsing by bending er other cause under 'the general circumstances incident to itsuse for the purpose it is intended. A number of these tubes, say twelve er fifteen, are stretched parallel to each other in a frame, from two to three inches apart, the tubes being,` of lengths convenient for use, say from six to twelve feet long; and while thus held the cotton braid is stnied and coated with the followilu chemical composition: Linseed oil, twelve gallons; sulphate of zinc, six ounces; sugar of lead, six ounces. l Boi;x together 1 in a copper vessel steadily for two or three days, the longer time the better, until the composition o' about the consistency of tar, when add of cam-phone sixteen gallons, to reduce-it to the proper consistency to be easily applied, the composition being ot' the nature of a transparent varnish. This varnish is applied te the cotton braid, and allowed to harden, when another coating of it is applied, and allowed to dry in turn, and the application repeated until the cotton has received from eight to twelve (12) successive coatings, which renders the tu'be thus formed impervious to illuminating` gas. But from the nature of the fabric to whichthe varnish is applied. it being composed ot' a number of threads or yarns plaited together, the continual bending and ceiling ofthe tubeand exposure to the air will cause the lube to become dry and hard, and, ou being bent, the threads or yarns will separate one from another, and form cracks in the varnish at the interstices of the plaited strands, through which the gas will escape in such piantities over the affected surface as to render the tube obnoxious to the smell, und worthless for the purpose intended. But by combining with the said tube au ovcriaying sheath or tube of India rubber, in the manner hereafter specified, the fabric of the firstI tube will be protected and preserved in its original impervious condition under the severest usage to which it is likely' to be subjected, while, at the same tilnefthe India rubber will be protected froiueontaet with the gas deposits, and its own impervious nat-ure be preserved intact, and made to conti-ibute to the one grand resultwhich is sought in the manufacture of-this article. The said India-rubber sheath R is combined with t'heyarnish tube by first coating the surface of the said tube with India-rubber cement, so called, consisting of India rubber dissolved in naphtha; and having prepareda strip ofthe vulcanizable compound of India rubber (caoutchouc) of the requisite length, and of a width that will wrap in two folds or layers around the tubc,'l` inserta metallic rod in the bore of the tube, and, by rolling the tube evenly from end to end over the said strip of compounih roll it upon the tube, to

which it will rinly adhere and to itself, and thus be rolled up into one homogeneous mass, without any scam or joint. then wrap the tube tightly in one or two, or more, folds of wet inusliu oueotton cloth, und place the tube and rod in a tight chest, to which a pressure ot steam is admitted, which will afford a regular temperature of from two hundred and forty to two hundred and sixty degrees of heat,- by means-oi` which the :india-rubber compound of the sheath will be vulcanized, (us it is termed and such ist-he nature of the varnish that, bythe action of the moist heat derived from the steam, the fabric of the inner! tube becomes incorporated with the material of the-outer sheath or tube, so as to be diliioult of separation therefrom, which has the effect to prevent the plaited threads of the inner fabric fromscparatiug from each other, 'and from stiel-ding a. means for the gas to escupe, in th'e'jmanner abone explained The peculiar heat derived from steam is, it should be understood,

highly essential, if not indispensable, to the above result, as the dry heat arising from a more immediate contact with re would be likely to inflame or char t'he varnishedeotton and destroy it. I have mentioned above that the braid Work is of cotton, merel-y because, as a material, it is most generally used for such braiding, and not because it is exclusively essential to' the result, or that I in tend to be coniined te the use of that fibre alone. Se

also with regard to India rubber for the material of the external sheath; I do not u'ilLto be understood as conning myself to this material to the exclusion of other sinil'ar vulcanizable gums or substances which, in the same manner, and Without further invention, will aierdl the requisite protection, and supply an additional imperviousness, substantially as above described.

What I claim, and desire to secure by 'Letters Patent, is-

'.Ihe flexible, impervious tubing formed by combining the nonfeollapsable tube with a sheath or tube of India rubber or other vulcanizable gums or compounds, by the meansiand substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

In Witness whereofI have hereunto setniy hand this twentieth day ot' November, A. D. 1866.

THOMAS L. REED.

Witnesses:

ISAAC A. Bnowr-ELL, D. K. Hoxsin. 

